Work Environment Survey Shows Key To Employee Satisfaction

Capital One’s Workplace Solutions Team second survey, released in the summer of 2018, again explored what employees want from their work environment and how opinions may have changed.

When asked which design elements were most important, 57 percent chose natural light. Reconfigurable furniture and spaces (37 percent) narrowly squeaked by artwork and creative imagery (36 percent) for the second spot, according to an article on the Work Design website.

The survey asked 3,500 full-time office professionals to share thoughts about the impact of workplace design and employee experience on their satisfaction, creativity and productivity.

Changes from the previous year’s survey helped identify a few trends. For example, in 2018, 40 percent of respondents said it was very important that their workspace was flexible, up 6 percent from 2017. Eighty-eight percent found flexible workplace design to be important, up 3 percent from 2017.

Sixty-six percent of employees said that workplace design is as important, or more critical, than workplace location. That number increases when executive-level employees were surveyed. According to an earlier CleanLink article, 76 percent said workplace design is as, or more, important than location.

But design isn’t the only important factor for employees, a 2018 Contracting Profits survey showed that two-thirds of facility executives rank a healthy environment for building occupants as their most important cleaning priority.

Surveyed facility executives said clean restrooms and lobbies — tasks that contribute to making a great first impression, are most important . Beyond these outward impressions,  cleanliness also is shown to increase worker productivity.

The survey conducted in November 2018 by Tork, Essity’s professional hygiene brand, found a large majority of manufacturing employees identify operational efficiency (96 percent), safety and hygiene (94 percent), and organization of work environments (93 percent) as top enhancers of their happiness on the job. 

In fact, when it comes to positive influences on employee morale, the study concluded that efficiency, organization, safety and hygiene rank considerably higher than other factors in a facility, such as advancements in technology and machinery (87 percent).